


Döden Går Tyst I Skogen

by deepestfathoms



Category: Six - Marlow/Moss
Genre: Ambiguous/Open Ending, Attempt at Humor, Blood and Gore, Camping, Death, Enemies to Friends, Forests, Gen, Monsters, Panic Attacks, Psychological Horror, Survival Horror, im running for Darkest Six Writer, nobody can beat me at blood and gore and horror in this fandom, sorta - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-04
Updated: 2020-07-04
Packaged: 2021-03-05 05:40:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,491
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25069279
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/deepestfathoms/pseuds/deepestfathoms
Summary: The queens and ladies in waiting go camping. What could go wrong?
Comments: 2
Kudos: 22





	Döden Går Tyst I Skogen

“I hope you guys had no other plans for this weekend because we’re going camping!”

Of course Cleves was the one to present this idea. She was the nature freak, after all (in a good way, of course).

It was just another day at the theater, another day of singing the same songs and dancing the same dances. Perhaps that’s why Cleves came up with this proposition in the first place; she could sense the dreariness coating the ten of them and knew they all needed a break.

“Camping?” Aragon said slowly. “Really?”

“Yes, really!” Cleves replied with natural enthusiasm. “Come on, we don’t have any shows this weekend. We need this. What’s a better way to unwind than be in the great outdoors?”

“Be inside where it’s safe?” Joan put in.

“It sounds good to me.” Anne said, talking over Joan, earning an annoyed huff from the girl, who promptly buries her face back into her sketchbook. “It gives me more of a reason not to do the dishes!”

“You’re still doing them,” Jane said, then smiled at Cleves. “That sounds like a wonderful idea. I don’t think I’ve ever gone camping before.”

“Think you can handle it, Miss Germaphobe?” Anne teased.

“Yes!” Jane barked, suddenly defensive. “It is nature! It’s probably cleaner out there than it is in here.”

“Poison ivy, poison oak, leprosy, hornets, rabies, murderers…” Joan began to rattle off the dangers of nature. “Fungal diseases, scorpions, bears…” She continues, but nobody pays attention after that.

“I think it’s a great idea!” Kitty piped up. “Can we take the dogs?”

“Yeah!” Cleves said excitedly. “This is gonna be amazing! You won’t regret it!”

And so, the plans were arranged.

After spending the three days in actual civilization, the gang packed up two cars with supplies Cleves had bought (again, nature freak) and drove off to the campsite the red queen knew about. 

They arrived a little after six. It took ten minutes to hike to the clearing, and then around another thirty minutes to unpack and get set up, but they were all eventually sitting on logs and chairs around the fire Kitty and Anne started, a task Jane had been hesitant about giving them.

“Let’s play a game!” Kitty said.

“Hippo,” Joan suggested.

She got several head tilts, but Cathy flashed a grin at her.

“We used to call it Hippo, but we got tired of people always asking, ‘Why’s it called Hippo?’” She laughed. “Nice OXENFREE reference, Jo. I got it.” She swung her head around to the others, missing Joan’s shy blush in reaction to what she said. “It’s like Truth or Dare, except it’s a little nicer because nobody has to chug a bottle of hot sauce or lick someone else’s butthole. You can ask anyone any question you want and they have to answer no matter what, but if someone can prove that they’re lying, they get to slap them for not telling the truth.”

The others nodded in understanding.

“I’ll go first to start us off,” Cathy said. “Jane- Would you ever be polygamous?”

Jane scrunched up her nose in bafflement at such a question why several others laughed loudly. Cathy merely shrugged at the look she was being given and then motioned for Jane to answer.

“No. No way.” Jane said. “I mean, if you’re into that, nifty, but one partner is hard enough to deal with for me.”

A few more snorts went through the group, but nobody made a move to slap Jane, meaning, as far as they all knew, she was telling the truth.

“My turn, right?” Jane asked.

“Yup,” Cathy nodded.

“Okay…” Jane looked around at everyone. “Anne!” The green queen perked up and waited excitedly. “If you woke up as the opposite gender, what’s the first thing you would do?”

“Masturbate.”

Laughter erupted through the clearing. Maria even tipped backwards off of the log she was sitting on and had to cling desperately to Bessie’s shirt, which nearly made the bassist come down with her.

“I’m crying!” Maggie howled, wiping a finger under her watering eyes.

“There was zero hesitation!” Cleves cried.

“Can I slap her just because?” Aragon asked. 

“I speak only the truth.” Anne smirked. “My turn now, and I choose…Bessie!”

There was a swell of intrigued murmurs. Bessie raised an eyebrow at Anne.

“Ever committed a crime?” Anne asked. 

“If the illegal downloading of over a thousand songs counts as a crime, then yes.” Bessie said nonchalantly. “And tax fraud.”

“What?” Aragon gaped, among many shocked reactions.

“Anna!” Bessie said, providing no context or explanation for her answer.

And so, the game went on. 

Darkness began to fall over the forest as evening turned to night. Rays of marigold and pink and orange slipped through the trees, bathing the clearing in the colors of twilight before serene, inky black settles in its place. Laughter and music filled the grove even as the moon rose up high in the silver-speckled sky. Hippo turned into Cards Against Humanity, then a forest dance party, and then just normal conversations with topics that would randomly whisk away with the wind. 

Maria was the first to turn in for the night at eleven. Cathy and Kitty followed thirty minutes later, until everyone had nestled into their respective tents. The sound of humming crickets and croaking frogs lulled them all into a peaceful sleep…

–

**12:48**

**Saturday, November 12**

That’s what the big, white letters and numbers at the top of Joan’s phone screen read when she pressed the power button. She squinted at the brightness, then shut it off to relieve her eyes of the stinging glow that blinded them. She set her phone aside and rolled over, finding that there was much more space than before. When she peeked out from under her heavy eyelids again, she saw that the sleeping that used to occupy Cleves, her tent roommate, was empty.

Probably using the bathroom, Joan thought, snuggling back up in the blanket she brought. However, for the life of her, she couldn’t drift back off. You’d think the silence outside would help, bit it didn’t. In fact, it made falling asleep even worse for that very reason- that it was silent. No chirping of night birds, no rustling of leaves in the wind, no croaking of frogs. Nothing.

Complete silence.

Joan sat up, rubbed her eyes, then crawled out of the tent. The fire had been reduced down to flickering embers, and the minimal glow they gave off revealed a bare perimeter around the site. When she checked, there was nobody in the other tents.

“Guys?”

No answer.

Joan grabbed one of the flashlights lying around and began scanning the area of the camping ground. There was nobody. Not even the dogs they had brought along.

“Hello? Guys?”

She vaguely remembered them talking about going on a night hike hours earlier, so she stepped out of the fire’s light and started to search. She waved the flashlight around everywhere, calling out for her friends.

“Jane? Bessie? Catherine?” She shouted into the darkness. “Where’d you guys go? Anne?”

Nothing answered her.

Joan delved deeper into the woods. Fallen leaves and icy grass crunches underneath her feet. The darkness surrounded her like a malevolent entity. It seemed palpable, almost physical. She shivered as a cold whirlwind gusted around her, her pajamas providing little to no protection from the wind. She regretted not grabbing her coat, but she hadn’t been expecting it to take this long.

“They could have at least told me where they were going.” She grumbled, “Or when they would get back. Or when they left because this is ridiculous!”

A branch snapped loudly from behind. Joan whirled around to see nobody.

“Guys?”

Bushes rustled nearby.

“Guys, this isn’t funny anymore!” She yelled.

There were more snaps and crackles that seemed to come from every direction. A crash sounded from a few yards away, like someone had taken a big log and threw it to the ground with as much force as possible. Joan thought she heard laughter coming from in the trees. She’s spinning around in rapid circles, shining her flashlight everywhere.

Then, a scream. 

Something lunged out from the underbrush.

Joan shrieked in pure terror and fell backwards, becoming paralyzed with fear. She braced her arms over her head. The laughter is back. She peeks out and her heart sinks.

“Oh man, you should have seen your face, Joan!”

“You…you prick!!”

Kitty jumped out of the way when the pianist flung a stick at her. She doubled over, giggling and trying to catch her breath.

“That wasn’t funny!”

“Sorry, sorry, okay! It was just too good!”

She hauled Joan up to her feet, despite the nasty glare she was getting.

“So all of that was you?”

Kitty nodded, grinning widely and wiping her eyes.

“God, you are so annoying. You put way too much effort into that!” Joan growled, rolling her eyes. “That didn’t sound like you up in the trees. Come on, let’s hear you do that voice again.”

Kitty gave her a confused look.

“What?”

“The laughter. In the trees. Do it again.”

“What are you talking about? I just made all those rustling noises. I never climbed a tree.”

Joan was awful at telling when people were lying, but something inside of her told her that Kitty was telling the truth. She fidgeted nervously.

“It must have just been the wind then.” She said, despite how painfully cliché that sounded. “Let’s-let’s just get back to the camp.”

She and Kitty began walking through the woods. 

“So, was everyone in on the joke?”

Kitty shook her head. “Nope. Just me.” She said, “We were heading back from the hike and I heard you yelling, so I decided to give you a little scare.”

“Which was so nice of you.” Joan deadpanned. She hated having to walk alone with Kitty of all people; it was so awkward! And it only got worse when it became evident that they had no idea where they were going.

“Shouldn’t we have found the clearing by now?” Joan asked anxiously.

“Calm down,” Kitty said, as if she weren’t a big scaredy cat herself. “We’ll get there.”

Joan gave her an unconvinced look, but kept walking because every other direction didn’t look any more helpful than the one they were going on. She pointed her flashlight straight ahead, but it seemed like the light wasn’t as strong as it had been before, like the shadows were devouring the length of the white beam and leaving it dimmed and short. 

Their hike was spent mostly in silence, aside from all the forest noises, which had finally returned. Or, perhaps they’ve always been there. It gets hard to tell after a while.

The two of them duck under brittle, reaching branches and coils of thorns until they break through the thicket and into a small clearing where a cottage as old as time itself sat. It’s swathed by tendrils of ivy climbing their way towards the roof and splotched with patches of emerald green moss. It’s a chalk color, black peppering along its breast. The windows are a deep brown, shoddy paint chipping along the frames’ lips and brow, the very age of the cottage showing in its deterioration. Strings of small bones and clumps of fur and feathers dangle from branches and carvings of snakes with gemstone eyes guard the trees around the property.

And—

There’s light coming from inside.

It’s barely there. Just the occasional flicker, a warm orange seeping through the windows and bathing the frosted, overgrown grass that sits along the ground against the wall of the cottage outside. 

Kitty furrowed her brows, then glanced at Joan, who had her head tilted slightly in confusion. She’s looking at the house as if she’s expecting it to start talking and give her answers of its history.

“We definitely didn’t go the right way.” Kitty said helpfully, earning a glower from Joan. 

“You think?”

Cautiously, they make their way up to the front door, a wide brown-oak thing, with a cut-out panel for a small, cracked glass window. As Joan is pushing down the rusted grey handle, Kitty swore she saw one of the snakes with ruby eyes turn its head to watch them. She instinctively latched onto Joan, who jumped and then shrugged her off.

“Let go,” Joan hissed.

“Sorry,” Kitty said softly. “I thought I saw something.”

Joan frowned and scanned the trees circling the house and then stepped inside, motioning for Kitty to come with her.

“This isn’t trespassing, right? Shouldn’t we have knocked first?” Kitty said, looking around the musty interior.

“Maybe,” Joan said. “But we’re inside now. Oh well. Maybe the person who lives here can help us.”

She shines her flashlight around, revealing racks and shelves of various animal bones and furs. In fact, the entire place seemed to be either decorated by remains or wood carvings.

“What’s that thing where people are into collecting animal skeletons?” Kitty asked quietly.

“Vulture culture,” Joan replied.

“Ah,” Kitty nodded. She took her phone out of her pocket; the bedazzled, hot pink case glittered slightly in the flashlight’s glow. “Well, I’m going to go back outside and try to get some bars to call Jane.”

“What time is it?” Joan asked before she did so.

“It’s two in the morning.” Kitty answered.

The front door remained open for Joan’s own sense of safety and so the sparse moonlight could leak inside. She made the quick trek through the living room, which was adorned with more fur and bones, and made it to a short hallway. She opened a door on the right, which led to a musty-smelling room overgrown with fungus and plant life. She was about to leave and check if the other door was the one where they had seen the light, when she noticed a boot sticking out from behind the bed.

She believed she may have just found the owner of the cabin.

It was a man. Or, at least, Joan assumed it was a man from whatever clothes were left upon the skeleton. She guessed he probably died from a heart attack or something, which would have been a terrible way to go, since he had clearly been all alone.

Just then, the sound of the front door slamming shut jarred Joan out of her inspection. She jumped, whirled around, and opened her mouth to snap at Kitty for doing that, even though she specifically wanted to keep the door open, but something told her not to. The words caught in her mouth and her jaw remained agape for a moment as she listened.

There was a crack of wood from the hallway.

Someone was in the cabin with her.

“Hello?” Called a voice far too raspy and deep to be Kitty’s. It almost sounded like an old man’s. “Anybody in here? I need help!”

Joan backed up against the wall as quietly as she could, not daring to reply.

“Hello?” The man said again, this time with far more desperation. 

The door pushed open slowly, but Joan was still hidden behind it from the way it came out. However, she could still see around the frame and watched as the man came inside, crawling on all fours with its inhumanly long limbs. The skin was wrinkled, molted, and sickly pale with smears of dark red and brown. It was incredibly thin and completely bald, but had scratches and pock marks littering its head. Its bones pressed grossly up against its taut flesh as it climbed onto the bed, grappling on with grotesquely disjointed hands and feet that almost looked like a gibbon’s. It looked down at the skeleton, then, in the gravelly voice, said, _“I need help!”_

Joan inhaled sharply and the thing snapped its head around to her. Its black, eyeless sockets drilled deep into her soul.

–

“Come on,” Kitty muttered as she watched a text to Jane try to send for the third time. She sighed heavily in annoyance, but that feeling was quickly whisked away by a jolt of fear when the door slammed shut behind her. She jumped and spun around, then narrowed her eyes at the doorway. “Wow. I was barely even being loud. But I expect no less from the MD who gets mad at every little thing!”

She turned away, not wanting to have her back to all the snakes. She continued to try and send a text until the door behind her suddenly swung open loudly and Joan came sprinting out.

“Kat!!” Joan yelled. “Run!”

“What?!”

Joan grabbed her arm as she ran by, pulling her along. She quickly fell into pace, and the two of them raced through the underbrush, getting whipped by ivy and branches and thorns as they went along. They stopped, eventually, to catch their breath. 

“What’s wrong?!” Kitty exclaimed through pants.

“There’s…someone out here with us.” Joan said bluntly with a wince. “Not one of our friends. Just please tell me you got a hold of Jane and know where to go.”

“No,” Kitty shook her head. “Wait- what do you mean ‘someone’?”

Joan began walking again. “I-I don’t know, honestly. Someone came into the house or was already inside, I’m not sure, but I was someone. Or something…”

Kitty swallowed thickly. At first she had been thinking Joan was just messing with her to get revenge for earlier, but Joan looked genuinely terrified. She kept looking over her shoulders and shining her flashlight around everywhere and anxiously fidgeting with the hem of her shirt. Something had really frightened her.

“Like…a man?”

“I don’t know!” Joan said. “I- I can’t describe it. You would have to see it to know what I mean.” She fell into a moment of nervous silence. “I just want to get out of these stupid woods…”

“Me too,” Kitty agreed. “Anything is better than this.”

“Eh. I can think of a few things.”

“I just wished Jane was here…”

Joan set a hand on her shoulder. “Me too.”

Kitty smiled slightly, despite the circumstances. She looked back down at her phone to see that the message was still trying to send.

“Let me see,” Joan said and Kitty handed her phone as she spoke again, “KAT!!!”

Except it hadn’t come from beside her.

Kitty whirled around to see Joan running through the dark trees. Her face was ghostly pale and dotted with sweat along the brow. Her storm grey eyes were wide with peril. The words she screamed sent Kitty’s entire world come crashing down on top of her.

“THAT ISN’T _ME!!_ ”

Kitty turned in time to watch the thing at her side disappear into the underbrush. Her jaw fell open, her breath catching in her throat as she was seized by terror. She had let it touch her. It had slipped into her life so easily and she had no idea. 

What was it planning on doing if Joan hadn’t shown up?

“Kat, Kat, hey,” Joan is in front of her, shaking her shoulders frantically. She clearly didn’t know how to calm someone in the midst of a panic attack. “Listen, I know you’re freaked out, but we have _to go_.”

She grabbed Kitty by the wrist and began running. Kitty stumbled along behind her, but managed to keep a steady pace, even with her rising horror.

“Joan-” She choked out as they sprinted through the trees. “Joan, _what the fuck?_ ”

“I-I-I don’t know!” Joan cried. “One moment I was alone in the cabin and then the next, that thing is there! I-it knocked me out, I think, and took my- _AHH!!_ ”

Joan cut herself off with a cry of pain and the loud clanging of metal as she’s suddenly yanked to the ground. Kitty screamed, too, at the sudden outburst and skidded to a halt. In the dim moonlight, she can see Joan writhing on the ground, sobbing in obvious distress.

“Joan?” Kitty whispered fearfully. “What’s wrong?”

“S-something’s got me-” Joan rasped. “Something’s-” She howled loudly.

“Is it the thing?” Kitty asked, but her only answer is a sharp whine that morphs into a sob. Slowly, she turned on her phone, which had scratch marks engraved into the glass from the creature, and activated the flashlight app. She couldn’t tell if what she saw in the light was worse than the monster or not.

A bear trap. Clamped around Joan’s left leg, just above the ankle. Joan’s left hand gripped at the limb tightly, slightly over where the metallic teeth bared into her flesh. One sporadic tremor was all it took to send new currents of torture up her leg. And, this time, there was no stifling her tormented scream from ripping out of her throat. Now, both hands were clutching at the appendage, trying as the might to lessen the pain. Of course, it did little to no good.

“Oh god,” Kitty whispered. “Oh god, oh god, oh god…!” She was beginning to panic, spiraling all over again. Joan caught attention of this growing anxiety attack through her own haze.

“No!” She snapped. “You don’t GET to freak out! You don’t have this fucking thing attached to your leg! You need to be the strong one for once!” Her voice wavered treacherously. “Please-”

Kitty sniffled, but nodded. She knew Joan was right- someone had to keep their head on straight, and it would be much harder for the one caught in a bear trap to do that.

She knelt down beside Joan, her knees dipping into a pool of blood spreading out across the dirt. She reached out and cringed when her fingers squelched against the fabric of Joan’s pajama pants, warm liquid seeping through and almost immediately coating her hands. They were numb, quivering as she forced them to venture farther and nearer to the source of her companion’s agony.

“Shit, shit, shit, shit,” Joan muttered. “I’m going to die. I’m going to die with an absolute _idiot!_ No offense.”

“None taken,” Kitty grunted as she jammed her fingers through where she could, eliciting a sharp cry from Joan. 

“What the fuck?! WHAT THE FUCK?!” Joan yelled, writhing.

“I’m trying to get it off!” Kitty told her.

She attempted to pry the jaws of the artificial beast from Joan’s leg, but her arms were shaking too much and the torment that seized Joan’s body prevented her from using all her strength; all of it was quickly being stolen away in both of them. Before she could get the teeth more than an inch away, the slickness caused it to slip from her grasp and bite right back to where it was originally. Just like that, they were back at square one.

“M-maybe I can break it off?” Kitty stammered.

“Try,” Joan begged. She leaned back and laid down, clawing her hands at the dirt and ripping at the grass to try and cope with the waves of agony washing over her. Tears were falling freely from her eyes.

Kitty began to search the perimeter of the clearing, being mindful of other illegal traps laid out- bear traps, fox traps, snares, cages. She weaved around them carefully, scanning the ground until she found a few big and pointy rocks and some sturdy-looking sticks. She gathered them all, willing to try each of them until one worked.

“Listen,” Joan slurred as she made her way back over. “We both hate this. In fact, I hate it more because I’m the one with a bear trap on my leg. So-” Then, she went snow white.

“Joan?” Kitty said worriedly. “What’s wrong?”

“Kat, _don’t move._ ” Joan whispered slowly. “I know we have our differences, but I need you to trust me. Whatever you do, _don’t move._ ”

Kitty obeys, freezing in place. She held the rocks and sticks close to her chest, staring into Joan’s eyes and not daring to look at anything else. Bile was rising in her throat, not because of her mounting fear, but because of the sickly sweet smell of cadaverine emanating from the figure beside her.

“I can’t believe I finally found you both!” It said with Jane’s voice. “I’ve been looking all over. I was so worried.”

A hand with long, spindly fingers comes up to rest on Kitty’s shoulder. Kitty squeezes her eyes shut, tears slowly rolling down her face as she barely suppressed a whimper.

“I was so worried.” It said again, using Anne’s voice.

Joan is perfectly still, not even feeling the pain of the bear trap anymore. She watches as the thing’s head twitches sporadically before finally stopping and staring directly at her, wearing Aragon’s face.

“You two know better than to run off like that.”

That’s when Kitty screamed. Unable to take it anymore, she darted left and ran for the trees. The thing went after her, and Joan could only lie there and watch as it lunged at her, latching on and throwing her to the ground, where it began shredding her face and burrowing into her back and peeling off her skin until she stopped screaming. Then, with the young queen’s flesh draped around its neck like a scarf, it crawled over to Joan. She didn’t move as it pressed its nails into her belly and grabbed a hold of the top of her face. She just cried until the Skinwalker stripped her head and she couldn’t cry anymore.

——

Kitty’s eyes snapped open- she’s barely able to breathe. Her hands immediately begin to feel all over her body- her face, her stomach, her leg. Then, she’s catapulting out of her tent, stumbling over it momentarily, and wrenching herself outside.

It was morning. Pale sunlight was filtering through the trees overhead. Birds were singing happily. Everyone seemed so calm, so at peace, while she stood breathing heavily and sweating. Jane looked at her worriedly.

“Are you alright, sweetheart?” She asked. “What’s wrong?”

“N- nothing…” Kitty said, spotting Joan sitting by the dying fire with her knees to her chest. “I’m fine.”

She walked over to Joan and sat beside her. The music director’s face is very grey.

“They didn’t believe me,” She whispered.

“What?’

Joan looked up at her. “I tried to tell them what happened and they didn’t believe me. They said it was a dream and it wasn’t real. But it couldn’t have been…” She shook her head and rested it back on her knees.

“Yeah…” Kitty said softly.

There was nothing to be done, however. They still had a day of camping, although nothing happened during the next night. That gave them both some reassurance, and they even started believing that it had been some crazy nightmare.

As everyone was driving home, Kitty felt a sting in her back and Joan felt a stab in her stomach. They exchanged fearful looks, then looked out the window and saw it standing between two trees, waving and wearing a horrid mix of their faces.


End file.
